An Enchanted Place

The sound of laughter greeted him as Gregory pushed open the door. His heart sank in despair even as anger washed his senses red. He knew what sight would greet him.

It didn’t matter how many times he’d tried to leave it all behind, how many times he’d tried to assert that his kindred need not be the people who shared his ancestry, but rather, those whose interests bound him to them. He had started his life anew too many times to count.

Each time his blood family had found him and had dragged him back to an existence he despised.

He’d grown tired of returning to his home, only to find those kindred souls who he’d claimed as his chosen family sprawled out, lifeless, on blood spattered floors. The sound of his brother’s laughter, echoing in the night air as he withdrew his fangs from his latest victim, was sickeningly familiar.

“The curse is inescapable, Brother,” Nathaniel told him. “You need to accept what you were born to be.”

“Oh, I accept my curse.” He let the vampiric shift take him, and lunged at his brother’s throat. His fangs tore deep. “It’s just our kindred I reject.”

“Hmm.” Nathaniel grinned as he danced back out of reach. The bite wound rapidly healed. “We’ll just have to see about that.”

This story was originally intended to be included in the ‘use the word’ section of my Weekly Word post – this week on the word, kindred – but it didn’t want to cooperate. I decided not to abandon it, though, and kept on playing around with it even after it had been replaced. It still reads more like the beginning of a longer piece than a self contained story, but I’m happy to leave it there. And seeing as I finally finished it, I thought I may as well share it. If you’d like to join in, why not write a piece of flash fiction or a poem of your own, inspired by the word, kindred. Just share a link in the comments!